Troy Masters, LGBTQ+ advocate and media trailblazer, dies suddenly at 63

Troy Masters, the publisher of LGBTQ+ news outlet the Los Angeles Blade and a pillar of queer media, died unexpectedly on Wednesday at age 63.

His death was mourned by celebrities, politicians, artists and advocates who admired the work he did uplifting queer voices and advocating for LGBTQ+ rights through his trailblazing journalism. His family announced the news of his passing in a statement published in the Los Angeles Blade on Thursday. They did not disclose a cause of death.

“We are shocked and devastated by the loss of Troy,” the statement said. “He was a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ community and leaves a tremendous legacy of fighting for social justice and equality.”

Masters founded Gay City News in New York City in 2002. It quickly became a cornerstone of queer news on the East Coast.

In 2017, he became the founding publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, a sister publication of the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest LGBTQ+ newspaper.

“All of us at the Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade are heartbroken by the loss of our colleague,” said the organization in a statement. “Troy Masters is a pioneer who championed LGBTQ rights as well as best-in-class journalism for our community.”

Masters said his passion for LGBTQ+ media was sparked by his experience living in New York City, and watching his friends die, at the height of the AIDs epidemic.

“What started as a trickle of HIV positive friends became a tsunami of dying people and slowly my every day became consumed by their desperation and need for assistance, advice or help,” Masters told VoyageLA in a 2018 interview. “There were few services at the time for people with AIDS, and it fell to networks of friends to ease their burdens, fight their battles, administer their care and even bury them.”

This crisis prompted him to leave a lucrative sales job at PC Magazine to work for a gay and lesbian magazine called OutWeek. There he discovered a large community of people on the front lines of the fight for LGBTQ+ civil rights — and discovered his calling.

He dedicated himself to publishing stories about the fight for more HIV research, faster drug approvals for HIV medications and rising violence against the LGBTQ+ community.

In 2015, he became increasingly concerned about the lack of a queer publication serving the growing LGBTQ+ community in Southern California. He set his eyes on a move to the Golden State and, two years later, successfully led the launch of Los Angeles Blade, an online and print news publication.

The announcement of his sudden death sent shock waves through the queer community in Southern California, where Masters had became a beloved and respected figure.

“I am terribly saddened to hear of the passing of Troy Masters,” said LGBTQ+ advocate and state Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur, (D-Los Angeles) in a statement. “A pillar in the LGBTQ+ community in his many roles, he has covered life in our community and the challenges of our fight for civil rights and social justice.”

L.A. County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, , in a statement on X, said she would miss Masters’ humor, wit and huge heart and praised his relentless journalistic pursuits and dedication to uplifting the LGBTQ+ community.

Journalist and culture critic Jasmyne Cannick said she was heartbroken by the death of Masters, whom she said she considered a personal mentor and friend.

“Through the years, he was supportive of my work, giving me space and a voice as a columnist and reporter for the Blade newspapers when it mattered most,” she said in on X. “Troy understood the importance of covering the Black LGBTQ+ community and made it a point to ask me what stories they needed to be telling.

“The void he leaves behind is deep,” she added, “but the community is better because of his dedication.”

For now, Los Angeles Blade Editor Gisselle Palomera will take over leadership of the paper.

Masters is survived by by his mother, Josie Kirkland, and his sister, Tammy Masters. His family said they planned to announce details of a celebration of his life in the near future.